Showing results by narrator "Todd McLaren" in All Categories

The modern US Army was largely created in the years between the two world wars. Prior to World War I, officers in leadership positions were increasingly convinced that building a new army could not take place as a series of random developments but had to be guided by military policy. In 1920, Congress accepted that idea and embodied it in the National Defense Act.

In 2005, 15 workers were killed when BP's Texas City Refinery exploded. In 2006, corroded pipes owned by BP led to an oil spill in Alaska. Now, in 2010, 11 men drilling for BP were killed in the blowout of the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. What's next? In In Too Deep: BP and the Drilling Race That Took It Down, Stanley Reed - a journalist who has covered BP for over a decade - and investigative reporter Alison Fitzgerald answer not only that question, but also examine why these disasters happen to BP so much more than other large oil companies.

Lionhearted: As the holiday season approaches, the residents of Jacobsville, Texas, are whispering about Janie Brewster’s hopeless crush on Leo Hart. Up until now, all her efforts to lasso the dynamic cattleman had crumbled quicker than the mouthwatering biscuits the Hart men coveted. Christmas Guardian: Despite his dark past and dangerous edge, Jordan Taylor fell for the helpless infant left on his Texas doorstep with a frantic plea for help. The millionaire security agent had built a fortress around baby Gus...or so he thought until Kinley Ford showed up at Christmas fourteen months later.

Elite networks are informal social networks between politicians in power and top executives of politically connected firms where personal ties and long-term interactions build trust and loyalty between involved actors. Both groups draw benefits from these interactions; politicians stay in power, and corporate executives extract rents for their firms. Firms reward connected executives with higher salaries thus widening the dispersion of earnings in society. In Elite Networks, Vuk Vukovic offers a different perspective on the long-run origins of inequality.

What would you do if you were accused and arrested for a crime that you didn't commit? How about if you realized that you'd just been scammed for thousands of dollars? What about if, due to having the same name as a criminal, your credit rating kept you from buying a house? Robert Massi reveals what the government doesn't want you to know: daily life and decisions are fraught with potential danger, and government mismanagement often has disastrous consequences for innocent, law-abiding citizens.

For Sage Alexander, life was forever changed when he realized that the Angelic embodiments he could always see, the magnificent heavenly powers that he possessed, and the destiny he had always been told he had to fulfill were all real and true, and that his promised powers were necessary to defeat the Seven Princes of Hell. After saving his father from the clutches of Greed incarnate and destroying Prince Mammon, Sage has come to realize his place within the Angelic Council and the world as a protector to humanity.

Since the dawn of civilization, it's been mankind's greatest dream: immortality and eternal youth. Dramatic advances in medical science have finally made it possible. But in order to preserve everyone's youthful state, they must undergo an irreversible operation before passing into adulthood. A special hormone patch maintains each person's body in the form of a preadolescent 11-year-old.

Miles Fenby is a clever five-year-old boy whose life is in turmoil (for a five-year-old). His family has just relocated for his dad's work, and his mom is pregnant with a second child. When Miles and his dad assemble his brand-new bunk bed (approved by Inspector 9, according to the packing slip), there's an extra piece whose purpose they can't quite figure out. Later that night, Miles is amazed to discover that the mystery piece is a key that transports him (and his bed) to grand adventures with Inspector 9....

No one’s mourning the death of Cuba’s dictator, Fidel Castro. His heirs, including daughter Carla, are jockeying for power. Guerrilla rebels threaten to topple the teetering government. But there’s more at stake than just the island nation. Il Jeffe’s legacy includes a long-hidden atomic missile, left over from the Kennedy-era Bay of Pigs crisis - which guerrilla leaders threaten to use against any American interference. Ace pilot Marine Lt. Edward Garcia is tasked to find the launch site.

Sardonic, chain-smoking, java-addicted FBI Special Agent Andy Fisher is called to look into the possibility that a terrorist group claims to have acquired an "E Bomb" - which can disable all electronic systems within a 10-mile radius - from North Korea. Fisher doubts that the North Koreans could actually make a working lawnmower, let alone an E Bomb. But the threat is more immediate than he suspects: The terrorists are already proceeding toward their objective.

There are moments where we all find ourselves too small for a problem or too limited for the task. Perhaps we are overwhelmed by a situation we’re facing financially, emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually, or relationally. We don’t have the answers, or the resources, or the strength, or words to say that would help, and we need divine intervention. A problem that is too big for us to solve on our own. We don’t know what to do, and no one else does either. So we turn heavenward to the Almighty God of the universe and ask for His help. Except we don’t know how to pray.

Hope Adams, tabloid journalist and half-demon, inherited her Bollywood-princess looks from her mother. From her demon father, she inherited a hunger for chaos, and a talent for finding it. Like full demons, she gets an almost sexual rush from danger - in fact, she thrives on it. But she is determined to use her gifts for good. When the head of the powerful Cortez Cabal asks her to infiltrate a gang of bored, rich, troublemaking super naturals in Miami, Hope can’t resist the excitement.

Alicia, Brice, and Caroline are the ABCs - three close friends who have been brought together while working at the cozy medical practice of Drs. Markowitz and Strub in Midburg, Ohio. But when Alicia and Dr. Strub begin an affair, a dramatic chain of events ensues that gradually but drastically alters the office environment - ultimately requiring all five coworkers to redefine their relationships to one another.

In the annals of business trips gone horribly wrong, Evangeline Harker's journey to Romania on behalf of her employer, the popular television newsmagazine The Hour, deserves pride of place. Sent to Transylvania to scout out a possible story on a notorious Eastern European crime boss named Ion Torgu, she has found the true nature of Torgu's activities to be far more monstrous than anything her young journalist's mind could have imagined.

It takes one dance at a party for Erianne Mitchell to fall for dashing entrepreneur Ty Mosby. They have business and friends in common – and a searing attraction that seems far too good to last. But when a devastating mistake tears them apart, Erianne flees to Wyoming with a secret, one she hopes Ty never discovers. She did nothing wrong, and she’ll never ask Ty to forgive her. How can she be with a man who doesn’t trust her?

Arabella Craig was eighteen when she first fell for Ethan Hardeman…and he turned around and married another woman. Four years later, tragedy brings Ethan, still just as tall and handsome, back into her life. He runs his family’s cattle empire with an iron hand, and keeps just as tight a grip on the reins holding back his heart. But Arabella is determined not to let this Long, Tall Texan escape her again!

FBI agent Jack Ferico’s father is dying. His last wish? To see his estranged son, Danny, before he dies. Jack never got along with his older brother, but agrees to bring him home. Trouble is, Danny has disappeared without a trace. Jack’s search uncovers secrets, hidden agendas, and a danger more serious than he ever imagined. Danny specialized in stealth technologies at an international think tank. National security agencies suspect Danny sold classified technologies to the wrong people.

A Journey Through America introduces insightful commentary on our American democracy. Author Lawrence Kadish draws from over eighty-five years of lived experience, allowing him to celebrate our nation's strengths, reflect on our self-inflicted errors, and draw attention to the challenges of a nation that remains humanity's last hope.

Cort Grier is no ordinary rancher. Despite his vast wealth, he still works the land with his own bare hands, unlike his troublesome new neighbor, Mina Michaels. Fiery, beautiful Mina infuriates and entrances Cort, awakening feelings he'd thought long buried. But he knows falling for a city girl can only lead to heartbreak...

When Sheriff Cody Banks’s wife died, he blamed Abby Brennan for the illness he’s sure killed Deborah and, in his grief, made sure she knew it. Looking back now, he knows that his behavior was likely the reason Abby left town years ago. So when he sees her — and the child she’s raising — at her great-uncle’s funeral, Cody attempts to apologise, ashamed to see the fear he puts in her beautiful eyes and determined to show her he’s no longer that same angry man.